16-19 July - Die, Drôme

Arriving in Die, we got straight into our little apartment right on the edge of the main street. A latish lunch next door at a rather hippy-style bio cafe, and we did little else than a orientation wander around Die. It was very hot, and we were not inclined to do much. We treated ourselves to a nice dinner at Restaurant Mazel. For me the highlight was an excellent cheese course of Bleu de Vercors, Picodon (a soft goat's cheese), St Marcellin and a Brebis de Montagne. All were local, and all delicious. One of the delights of France is the variation of food from place to place.

On the following day we did a walk up from a particularly pretty village, Chatillon-en-Diois. It took us up from the town, south up a hillside and over a ridge, then along above the valley to the Col des Caux. Every walk we've done seems to bring something different, and on this one it was the alpine forest of beeches. A fair old climb up, but a nice easy return, followed by a beer at a very pretty little square in Chatillon.

Lovely beech forest

Square with fountain in Chatillon-en-Diois

A few Skypes to start Wednesday morning, then we set off to see a mosaic at a little old chapel. The chapel opened its doors at 10am, so while we waited for it to open up had a little wander around the local market, which was in full swing. It was similar in many ways to Céret's market, though we have definitely noticed a major inclination here towards things hippyish. There are clearly large numbers in town. It has the feeling of a very laid-back chilled lifestyle, though there are quite a few tourists buzzing around town at the same time.

The mosaic turned out to be a fabulous surprise. It was in a now-nondescript building which had once been the bishop's residence, but the one little chapel room had just been left alone. We had imagined the mosaic might be Roman, but it was much later, and a charmingly naive interpretation of the four rivers of antiquity. Quite a little jewel.

Mosaic of the 4 Rivers

Wednesday was a non-walking day, so we went swimming at the local pool. At least we weren't walking up hills, but we did put in a fair few lengths, and I course I did some aqua-jogging while John turned the other way and tried to disown me. The noon-day sun told us it was time to go, so we seated ourselves at the little restaurant we'd had dinner at the night before. The food was so good, we thought we'd treat ourselves, and at just 12.50E for a 3 course lunch, it was very nice. A much-needed and we have to say rare snooze after lunch before we jumped in the car and drove the 6km along a narrow valley road to search out the Abbaye de Valcroissant. 

One hour guided visits are only given at 5pm just 3 times a week so we were lucky to be able to manage one. The abbey was built in the 11th century, though much of the original structure had been destroyed. There is also plenty of 'new' building work attached to it and the entire complex is now part of a working farm. The guide was a very earnest Frenchman, very nice and clearly passionate and knowledgeable about the abbey and its history, but unfortunately he spoke so softly that we caught only the odd phrase in the entire one-hour tour. It was quite disappointing for us to find the French so difficult. However, we both loved looking around the structures, and it was fascinating to see how the chapel and other parts of the complex had been stabilised, as opposed to restored, and formed an integral part of a large and presumably viable farm. 

Abbaye de Valcroissant, now a working farm building and home

On Thursday we got ourselves fabulously organised and set off early (8am!!) to beat the heat of the day on our next major trek. First we had to drive the tortuous 30min up the mountainside to the Col de Rousset. The hairpin bends were quite spectacular. Unfortunately we have to drive them twice more, once back down the mountain to get back for our last night in Die, and then again the next morning when we head north to Grenoble. Given the limited options for accommodation nearby, this was the only way we could have done this walk.

We chose to walk to Les Rochers de l'Aiglette via the Col de Chironne because it looked to offer incredible views. It started a little surprisingly with a narrow track glued to the very edge of the mountain, some of it actually chipped out from the rock. Most of the route was then through high summer pastures. However, as we progressed towards the end of the spur, the views were indeed spectacular. There weren't too many peaks higher than ours. We had extensive vistas over mountains, towns afar, cultivated fields in the valleys... and a military helicopter which seemed to be circling around searching for something in the ranges. The sheep flocks here have patou to look after them. These are big white fluffy sheepdogs which are raised all their lives with the sheep, and serve to protect them from humans, wolves and bears - the latter two of which are making a human-aided return to much of France.

 Start of the walk

Then beech forest

Pasture across the tops, not what you might expect in the alps

View back along the ridge. Tiny dot on the skyline at the top is a mountainbiker

Feels pretty much on top of the world, 1550m

Vulture soaring, waiting for exhausted hikers

To top this off, two vultures were using the updraughts to circle around, coming quite near to investigate after I deliberately flailed my walking poles in the air. As usual we had loaded up with 3 bottles of water when we set out, but being so high up in the mountains, and on the ridges where there was a bit of breeze, we were much cooler and didn't overheat for once. I even tipped some water out to lighten my load. We think we were definitely feeling the altitude to some extent though. Our pace was definitely slower than usual, and short hard sections of track uphill really got us huffing and puffing. We got up to 1550m. A fantastic varied walk, one of our best ever.

With the early start we got back to the car a bit about 11.30am. We were hoping to visit a lavender distillery on the way back, with the final guided tour of the morning set for noon, however, we didn't make it in time. Also, being after noon, the entire place was shut for lunchtime. We opted to drive the remaining 15 minutes back into Die and have a lunch at home. Like every other day here, the afternoons are very quiet - it is so hot that few are out and about. We are right in the main street, next to a cafe/bar, and there is not a sound to be heard.

Who would have thought there'd be a lovely Japanese restaurant in Die in the Drome?

Japanese Bento meal at Estaminette Yamaneko, Die